3.5⭐️

I was hooked from the beginning. Short chapters, interesting plot & mystery. After the POV switched from (won’t name the character) it got a bit repetitive and felt a little dragged out. I even suspected one character to show up and I was kind of right (won’t go into details).

I read this book super fast because I wanted to know how everything played out, I just felt like the twist wasn’t anything jaw dropping and some of the story ends weren’t tied up. The epilogue was a bit unnecessary, I would have liked to see how things wrapped up for some of the main characters throughout the book instead.

Read if you like:
—plot twists
—short chapters
—mystery
—murder stories
— news anchors
— airport scenes
— multiple POV
— hidden secrets

Thank you netgalley for this ARC. Pub date is 1/14/25

𝐀𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐱 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫: 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭, 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐣𝐨𝐲.

An incredible debut that had me hooked right from the opening pages! Alternating POVs are one of my favorite things, and this book had quite a few. Initially, I worried about keeping them straight, but I soon found that each one had a distinct voice, so I settled in.

In the opening chapters, Jasmine is quietly planning her escape from her abusive partner. The fear and terror were palpable; her situation was dire. After quietly funneling tip money from her job at a bar and borrowing some from a friend, she has enough for a plane ticket to start over.

Stephanie is single with no kids and works for a news agency. She is often sent on business trips because of her lack of entanglements. She thinks it's unfair, but she also feels there is little that she can do about it. When she boards the plane for her latest trip, she meets Jasmine. They engage in some small talk and go their separate ways. After a few days, they text their friends the same exact messages about the same man, Trent McCarthy, a self-proclaimed leader in the news industry and an attendee at the same conference Stephanie attended—and the messages becoming stranger and more erratic.

I was completely invested in the complicated, rather clever plot that was unraveling before me that was brilliantly executed. My only complaint was I found the ending to be rather abrupt and wanted a little more. Other than that small flaw, this was a wild, bingeable book from a debut author that I'll be keeping my eye on! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for making this title available early for their influencers. At the time this review was written, this title is expected to release January 14, 2025.

So many emotions reading this book! This was a quick read for me, starting and finishing in one afternoon. It’s fast paced - there’s something going on from the first page to the last. The story is told in multiple viewpoints, but flows well and is easy to keep up with. As I got further along, I had mixed feelings about a couple characters and waited for their comeuppance, getting quit annoyed as I read more about them. The feelings didn’t last long, as the story ties up all loose ends by the last page,

Stephanie is a busy, divorced, working woman who travels frequently for work. Jasmine is an abused woman leaving town ready to start her new life. Seating together on the same flight, their lives are about to cross paths in a way no one saw coming. When both women vanish, can their friends and coworkers put together clues to find their whereabouts? And who is this mystery man, Trent, that they have both been messaging about?

The Business Trip is a debut by Jessie Garcia. Stephanie is going on a business trip and Jasmine is fleeing an abusive relationship. They don’t know each other, but they end up on the same plane and their lives intertwine, changing them forever. Soon after, they both go missing. This book had a lot of characters at one point which became confusing, but by the third act everything was laid out and easier to digest. This part may be a little bit on the spoiler side so stop reading if you don’t want to hear it: I thought it was a little strange how some characters started out likable and you were rooting for them, and then the author kind of flipped the script! I’m not sure if that’s how it was supposed to be or a decision was made halfway through, but I didn’t really care for that. But for her first book, I thought she did a pretty fantastic job overall, and I liked the story, so I will definitely read her again!

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review and opinions are my own.

All in all, The Business Trip was a quick read (caveat: I skimmed most of Trent's chapters because he was atrocious) with an intriguing premise, but I'm not sure if I would read more from this author.

I did really enjoy what this book set out to do--the premise of the disappearance of two women mostly through the eyes of those left behind was different from similarly themed books, and the short chapters made for a quick, easy read. The twist at the end was also pretty satisfying.

Unfortunately, there were also some things that subjectively didn't work for me. Having Stephanie and Jasmine largely absent for most of the first half made it hard for me to care about their disappearance in the first place. And with that, no one's voice really stood out. All secondary characters sounded the same (ex: the trailer park guy is indistinguishable from the head of the news station) and their chapters felt repetitive. You've also really got to lean hard into the willing suspension of disbelief (mostly with the convenient way Jasmine goes about everything. Felt very deus ex machina. And just how big is Stephanie's suitcase??). And I hate to say it, but the epilogue felt really unnecessary.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for giving me access to this ARC on NetGalley through its influencer program.

One sitting, yep - get your snacks and free up your calendar, this one revs up slowly but then hits break neck speed to the end. You won't figure it all out, even if you think you have. Twists and turns, and multi-person views really keep thing going, and quite believable.

Phenomenal!!!! I read this book in less than 24 hours, now I wish I would’ve taken a little longer because I didn’t want it to end. WOW- the twists included were sometimes subtle but all came together in the end.

I enjoyed the perspectives of several different characters. Each character was built up through lots of details to be able to imagine the scene.

This book included some twists of things I’ve never read about, which obviously made it more intriguing, As I’ve read so many psychological thrillers, it’s hard to find new ways to keep me guessing,

Bravo to this new author!,

Jessie Garcia's debut, ‘The Business Trip’, is a masterclass in suspense and psychological intrigue. From the moment Stephanie and Jasmine's paths cross on a plane, the story unfolds with relentless tension. The writing is sharp and evocative, pulling you into the lives of these two women as their seemingly unrelated journeys converge in the most chilling way. I love the way author masterfully layers twist upon twist, keeping you guessing at every turn. The writing is sharp, and the pacing is relentless, ensuring you won’t put this book down until the shocking conclusion. With characters that feel real and a plot that keeps you on edge, this is a five-star thriller you can’t miss.

A page-turning page flipping, unputdownable thriller! I read this one in one night. If you like Julie Clark's The Last Flight, you'll LOVE this one. Perfectly twisty with unreliable characters. I loved it.